Invites and Announcements

I love babies, especially little babies. One of the best things about being a member of a large family, there are usually babies. The younger nieces and nephews are now giving us more great nieces and nephews. My niece and nephew(sister and brother) are the latest to get into the baby business. My niece had Coleman almost 4 weeks ago and her brother's wife is expecting Corbin in early January. What's really great about this is that both couples are good friends and the boys will be the same age and will grow up together and probably be as close as brothers.

A month or so ago, I posted the invitation for my niece's shower luncheon. We're giving the niece by marriage a shower in November and my assigned task was to create the invitation and get them in the mail. I dropped them in the mail on my way to finish the birth announcements. I wanted to do something different from the last invitation, but something that would also show that I consider this niece just as special. I found an invitation that had 3 ducks on it and decided that I could use Make the Cut to design a card with the ducks to be cut with my Cricut. I also needed some rubber ducky paper and was fortunate to find Simply Sweet Designs. She had exactly what I was looking for, and her prices were great. The Kit is called Rubber Ducky-Boy and I used the solid blue paper for the outside of the invite and the white background duck paper for the inside.

And now for the birth announcements. I'm so happy to say I've got this project finished too, and I love how they turned out. This time I used the Make the Cut software to design the onsie pattern and the bib. We started out with a blue gingham paper and a blue polka dotted paper from The Paper Studio. However, we couldn't find enough of either and it took a whole sheet of paper, so I went looking for some digital paper to print. When I couldn't find what I wanted, I contacted Paulette with Create with TLC, and she made me 3 different sized polka dotted papers. The bibs were first cut out with the Cricut, then the monogram was printed onto the bib, holes were punched for the ribbon and then the bib was run through the Cuttlebug to give it a dotted swiss pattern and texture.

Assembly required using the Scalloped Oval Spellbinder to cut a hole for Coleman's picture, and then sandwiching the picture between the patterned paper front and the solid white cardstock back. The pictures of Coleman were made by my nephew with Coleman in a basket in their front yard.

Thanks for stopping by. Now I can get back to making some cards for a few challenges. Next week I have another project that I need to get done, but you're just going to have to wait and see what it is. Thanks for stopping by.

Paper and Pieces

I really, really do love to sew, especially children's clothes. I haven't been doing much sewing lately since my babies have gotten to big for smocked dresses or button on the shoulder suits. That's about to change since we have a new great nephew and another on the way. In the meantime, the next best thing(and a whole lot faster), is paper piecing on digital images. This week Paper Piecing is the challenge on the Sassy Cheryl Challenge Blog. The DT did an amazing job in getting us inspired, so be sure to check out there cards. I didn't have to go shopping for an image for this challenge, but be sure to check out Sassy Cheryl's store, as she's just added some new images, you don't want to miss.

This image is called Pretty Sassy Cindy, and isn't she just so typical of the average 4 year old little girl? I found the flowered papers in Summer Drigg's Sweet Springtime Kit and is called Pink Flowers. The wonderful thing about printable paper is that you can make it small enough that the flowers aren't "too big" a print for the dress. I love these high waisted dresses on little girls. The rest of her is colored with Copics. The sketch is one I found on Kathy's Waffle Sketch File. The other patterned papers are also from Summer Drigg's Springtime Kit, and the Polka Dotted Paper is from her Winter Gifts kit. The sentiment is from Create with TLC and perfect for Pretty Sassy Cindy.

Thanks for stopping by.

Trading Cards?

OK, when you say trading cards to me, I think baseball, football, etc. You know the kind that used to come in package with a flat piece of gum. However, instead of a trading card with a picture of some sports person, the challenge over on the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog is to create your own TINY 2.5" x 3.5" (trading card official size) card using a Tiddly Inks Image. I just thought it was difficult paring the images down and coloring them to fit on an A2 card. Now we're talking minute images(in terms of coloring) to fit on a card this size and have room left for some added embellies. I have to say that my faster than the speed of light mode does not go well when working with TINY things.LOL However, when you make one, you think, it's so small and lonely or this isn't the greatest and before you know it, you've made several. One thing is for sure, it gave me a chance to use several of Tiddly Inks images and even to do a little shopping over at her store. Oh and be sure to check out What's New in October, because she has created the absolute cutest images that are perfect for Boss' Week along with a computer geek girl and a soccer boy.

So without further ado, here are the cards I created. Needless to say, everything is colored with Copics. The first ATC is using the Tiddly Ink Image, Ellie. I think she was a freebie. The striped paper is from Summer Driggs' Truth Kit. The Happy Birthday ribbon is some I picked up from a bin somewhere and on sale. I used a Cuttlebug snowflake diecut for the stars that I colored with my Spicas to add a bit of zing.

I have to say my personal favorite is the cow themed one, since you all know Smoochie is perhaps one of my favorite images. She just makes me smile every time I see her. I found the cowprint HERE and copied and pasted it into word. It was the perfect size(just bigger than the card itself) to use with little or no waste of paper. The red polka-dotted paper was leftover and on my cutting table(I haven't cleaned up in a week or so). Oh and I added some Paper Glaze to her lips to give her a glossy look.

My next card uses the image Bo and my background paper is also from the Tiddly Inks store. This paper was inspired by a picture done by Christy's daughter and when you buy the paper, it comes in about 6 different colors as well as a digi image for coloring. I carefully cut Bo out, mounted him on the Spellbinder Scalloped Oval circle, glued on the balloons and then drew the strings connecting them.

My final card is using the flower freebie image that Christy provided early in her PCP days. Again the paper is some that was laying on my cutting table, so I have no idea where it's from. I'm pretty sure it's some I printed though. I sponged around the image to make it stand out a bit from the background. I finished up with some twine and a LOVE charm and some of my Bella Baubles

I have to admit that this challenge was definitely out of my comfort zone, but was totally fun to do. That said, I don't see me getting into the ATC swap mode. I don't have enough hours in the day now.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a great day.

Thank you Cec, for the helpful tidbit on handling Blogger. I'm happy now.

It's All Downhill

I told you all I loved the sketch that Anne-Marije provided this week for the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog. I had ideas for multiple cards on this one, and of course, my HUGE collection of Winter Cuties from the Phindy's Place Store is only adding fuel to the creative fires.

Our family's idea of a vacation is a trip to Colorado in February for a week of snow skiing. Last year, our grandson turned 3, and so he took his first ski lessons. Needless to say, this image called Big Hill reminded me of MonkeyMoo on the baby hill. She's colored with Copics. The DP is from Create with TLC's Christmas selection. I used my snowflake embossing folders to make my snowball hill. I knew the sentiment I wanted to use, so I went to Photoshop elements to create it. Finally I used my MTC software and my Cricut to cut the mittens out.

I'm already looking forward to February and MonkeyMoos season number 2. Hopefully this

year, he'll actually make it up on the mountain and off the baby hill.

Glad to see you stopping in.

It's a Sketch

This week on the Phindy's Place Challenge Blog, Anne-Marije delivered a sketch for us to work with. I am constantly amazed that one sketch can be turned into so many cards, that look so different. I also love working with sketches, and after not being able to participate in the last couple of challenges, I was so in on this one. I love this sketch because it's so versatile, and I've already done two cards with it. No question of what images to use, I am so into the Winter Cuties. Check them out at the Phindy's Place Store.

For my first card for the challenge, I chose this adorable image called Miss Chrissy Tree. I colored her with my Copics finishing up the ornaments with my Spicas. The papers was left over from Christmas Open House invitations a few years back. The Gingerbread men were the border of the paper and were perfect for my center trip. I decided that since she was looking like a Christmas tree, I'd use my Cricut and MTC software to cut the image in the shape of a Christmas tree. I also cut the poinsettas from a free svg file that I got from My Cricut Scrapbooking. The sentiment is courtesy of Create with TLC.

Thanks for stopping by. I have a second card just waiting to be blogged.

Crackle Me This?

Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog this week asked that you create a project using Diamond Glaze and/or Crackle Paper. Christy even has a freebie crackle paper on her PCP site, you might want to add to your collection. I did a google on crackle paint on paper and found a tutorial HERE that showed how to make your own crackle paper using Elmer's glue and acrylic paint. Instead of the Elmer's, I used Allene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue, and it worked just fine. Then it was off to my Tiddly Inks digi folder to pick and image. I settled on this image called Every Day Princess. Since I'd decided to go with green and orange, what better color to color her hair than orange. Who knew I was also using the colors for the Copic Creations challenge,this week. You can't tell but her skirt, her crown and scepter are colored over with my Spicas, to add a glitter effect. I even used some diamond glaze on the jewels.

The DP paper is from Summer Briggs Dreamcicle Kit. What better sentiment for this image than Princess.

Be sure to go check out the Tiddly Inks store. Christy has added some new images and new papers. My file of images is growing rapidly. I just need more crafting time.

Thanks for stopping by, and if you've got a second, I'd love to hear from you.

Can You Really Have a Favorite?

That's the question for me today. This week on the Sassy Cheryls Challenge Blog ,we were to create a card using our favorite image. Well I have a whole folder full of favorite images, and if you go check out Sassy Cheryls Store, you'll see just what I'm talking about. I've had this dancer image called Grace for a while, and I've been wanting to use it. Today I have the perfect excuse. This week is my friend, Susan's 60th birthday. She and I go WAYYYYYYYY back. She's the first person I tried to spend the night away from home with. Notice, I said tried. We were in the 2nd grade, and I didn't make it. Her dad had to take me home at 2:30 in the morning. Now she's my line dancing buddy, so she's all about grace.

I colored the image with my Copics and followed a sketch from the Fussy and Friday Challenge Blog. There's a color challenge using purple, green and black on the Digital Delights Challenge blog, and those colors totally appealed to me. Papers are ones I had on hand. The sentiment is from Shannon Hebert. I made the flowers by coloing some sheer ribbon with my copics and then gathering it to make the flower.

It feels good to be back crafting. I've been busy with entertaining and haven't made a card in two weeks. I've really missed it.

Thanks for stopping by.